Former Ladycat star takes her winning ways to Germany

When she arrived at the University of the Pacific in summer 2009, Kendall Rodriguez was a highly-touted freshman.

Having played four years for Brea Olinda High's storied Ladycats, Rodriguez didn't need long to acclimate herself to the collegiate game.

The 6-foot forward learned quickly she needed to get physically stronger to play down in the block against bigger opponents. She also needed to get quicker to play the faster-paced game.

There was one lesson that took longer for her to learn.

How to lose.

"It was so, so hard for me," she recalled. "I remember calling my parents crying, being like, 'I didn't lose this many games at Brea in my four years.' I didn't really understand it."

In her first collegiate season, Rodriguez saw her new squad compile a 6-22 record. Her sophomore season, the Tigers dropped another 22 contests.

"I honestly thought about transferring," she admitted. "Other girls did. But my parents said, 'You don't want to be that person who gave up. You can turn it around.'"

Rodriguez stayed and sought to spearhead the program's turnaround.

Lynne Roberts, the Tigers head coach, recalled that after the second straight 22-loss season, Rodriguez and teammate Erica McKenzie walked into her office for a sitdown meeting.

"Those two came into my office and really took ownership of the program," Roberts explained. "They said, 'This is what we want to have to happen from here on out.' It ended up really being the best thing for our program. And Kendall ended up being the leader that helped bust through the wall."

As a junior in the 2011-12 season, Rodriguez became a first-team All-Big West performer, averaging 13 points and grabbing nearly eight rebounds a game. The Tigers doubled their win total from the previous year, winning 18 games and earning a trip to the women's NIT.

As an encore performance her season year, Rodriguez guided the school to a 27-8 record. The Tigers captured their first-ever Big West Conference regular-season championship. While they did not win their conference tourney to play in the NCAA tournament, Pacific did advance to the third round of the women's NIT.

"It was incredibly rewarding for the players," Roberts said. "You stick with something, you work your butt off, and you reap the rewards of that."

Rodriguez was at the center of it all, earning her second consecutive first-team All-Big West selection. Once the season was over, though, the itch to continue playing basketball was still there for the 22-year-old.

With the help of Get A Play! – a women's basketball player agency – Rodriguez began getting contacted by European teams about playing professionally overseas.

She ultimately signed a one-year contract with the GiroLive Panthers – a German squad.

"I've always wanted to travel," Rodriguez said. "We spent a summer in France when I was like nine years old, so I've always had an itch to see the world."

She will head out to Germany this month to begin training for the upcoming season. And just like her transition to college, Rodriguez still has a lot to learn.

"I've been taking a German class online," she said. "It's just really hard. Every time I think I'm learning, my mom says I sound like I'm coughing."